This podcast promotes personal growth, empathic connections, critical thinking and freedom from both inner as well as from outer shackles.
 

In departure from our usual format, and pausing the discussion on schooling vs. education, in this episode I present a story that I refer to as the fable of Socrates and Monosizea. It is an extract from a much longer essay by the law and ethics professor John Hasnas. The full essay is called ⁠The myth of the rule of law⁠.

If you would like to contact me directly, please write me an email to ⁠thecuriouscaseoffreedom@gmail.com⁠

If you're a fan of this show, you're welcome to become a supporting listener by going to my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ and clicking the donate button. This podcast is free, and I intend to keep it that way, but your contribution whether big or small helps immensely and is highly appreciated.

Presentation and production - Orí Harmelin

Bumper music - The tallest of Orders by Simon MacHale

Check out Simon's music on ⁠⁠Spotify ⁠⁠on ⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠ and on ⁠⁠Youtube⁠.⁠

A big thank you to Simon MacHale and Daniel Shafrir for their help and support in creating this content.

This is the fourth instalment in the series on schooling vs. education. This time I focus on conformity. What is conformity? Is it simply in our nature to conform or is it a learnt trait? Do the schools really play a role in teaching us to conform? What are the dangers of conformity? And what could be the antidote?

This is not an exhaustive discussion on the topic of conformity, which is vast, but a conscious attempt to focus our attention on this topic within the context of the State and its hegemonic relationship with society.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the channel "⁠Academy of ideas⁠" for their inspiring content that influenced me greatly in the making of this episode.

I mention in this episode, among others, Frederick Taylor Gates (grandfather to Bill Gates). Frederick Taylor was a business advisor to John D. Rockefeller and in 1903 he founded the American General Education Board. Gates wrote:

“In our dreams, we have limitless resources and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our moulding bands. The present education conventions fade from their minds, and unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning, or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, editors, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have an ample supply.

The task we set before ourselves is very simple as well as a very beautiful one, to train these people as we find them to a perfectly ideal life just where they are. So we will organise our children and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way, in the homes, in the shops and on the farm.”

If you would like to contact me directly, please write me an email to thecuriouscaseoffreedom@gmail.com

If you're a fan of this show, you're welcome to become a supporting listener by going to my ⁠website⁠ and clicking the donate button. This podcast is free, and I intend to keep it that way, but your contribution whether big or small helps immensely and is highly appreciated.

Presentation and production - Orí Harmelin

Bumper music - The tallest of Orders by Simon MacHale

Check out Simon's music on ⁠Spotify ⁠on ⁠Bandcamp⁠ and on ⁠Youtube⁠

A big thank you to Simon MacHale and Daniel Shafrir for their help and support in creating this content.

This is the third instalment in the series on schooling vs. education. Delving further into the lesson of obedience, considering how families and communities are so much embedded in a culture of submission, that the belief in obedience becomes a presupposition, a world view that is held under the level of awareness, and like any other unchecked and unaware belief, it taints the lens through which we view the world around us, and continues to manifest and become our reality.

Source reading:

- Education - Free and Compulsory by Murray N. Rothbard

- Compulsory Miseducation by Paul Goodman

- Drawing the Line Once Again by Paul Goodman

- Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto

- The Chained Elephant by Jorge Bucai

This episode is the second instalment of the series on Schooling vs. Education. In this episode I begin to explore the unspoken or implicit lessons of school: Obedience, conformity, apathy, class position, intellectual dependency and provisional self esteem, drawing from my personal experience and substantiated by the works of John Taylor Gatoo, I focus mainly on the first lesson - obedience.

Source reading:

Education - Free and Compulsory by Murray N. Rothbard

Compulsory Miseducation by Paul Goodman

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto

Republic by Plato

Academy of ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyWFpsAnVuI&t=418s

The school sucks podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4WrRuddFFzXMfEK96aQgKU?si=e0baef9c6fbd47c5

Episode description:

In this episode I explore the implicit beliefs that must be held in order to advocate for compulsory schooling, how those become the field, the ground on which schooling takes place. I further explore the goals of a state compulsory school system and hope to show how real learning is self directed while state compulsory schooling is antithetical to learning and growth.

Source reading:

Anxiety by Fritz Riemann

The Drama of Being a Child by Alice Miller

Education - Free and Compulsory by Murray N. Rothbard

Compulsory Miseducation by Paul Goodman

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto

Freedom's Progress? by Gerard Casey

Episode description:

Having delved into the philosophy of Gestalt for the past few episodes, in this episode I chose to share something about my own personal story, in particular about my army days. I aim to integrate many of the things that I have discussed in the Gestalt series (episodes 11-22) in this episode and see how they apply in my own personal story.

Episode description:

In this final episode in our Gestalt series we take a close look at one of the central notions of Gestalt philosophy - creative indifference, exploring its relevance to the curious case of freedom.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• When the body says no by Gabor Máté

• Gestalt and process by Peter Dreitzel

Episode description:

​​In this episode continuing our gestalt series, we take a closer look at two contact interruptions, or rather contact moderations: Confluence and deflection. Both have to do with the permeability of our boundaries, both are forms of creative adjustments, and as such are vital to our being-in-the-world, and both, when they become fixed and rigid forms of behaviour stand in our way of living freely in the here and now.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• When the body says no by Gabor Máté

• Gestalt and process by Peter Dreitzel

Episode description:

In this episode we continue our gestalt series, and delve further into the world of polarities, observing how we fracture ourselves into a mind and a body. The body then takes the role of the disowned self. Since freedom starts with the individual, I believe that healing the fractured self is a vital step that can help us pave the way to a free society.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline

• Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy by Joseph Zinker

• Body Process by James I. Kepner

Episode description:

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we focus on polarities: the yin and yang of our existence. Enjoy

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy by Joseph Zinker

• Body Process by James I. Kepner

Episode description:

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we focus on polarities: the yin and yang of our existence. Enjoy Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy by Joseph Zinker

• Body Process by James I. Kepner

Episode description:

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we focus on Retroflection: the psychological mechanism which I use to divert the energy that I wish to direct towards the environment back onto myself.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

• Owning your own shadow by Robert A. Johnson

Episode description:

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we continue focusing on Introjection as a contact interruption, how are introjects formed, and how they contribute to the preservation of the status quo.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

Episode description:

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we continue focusing on Introjection as a contact interruption, how are introjects formed, and how they contribute to the preservation of the status quo.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

Episode description:

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, viewing the self through the lens of the the philosophy of Gestalt, and exploring how we can extrapolate from that understanding of self as a creative dynamic process to society at large.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

Episode description:

We continue in our series about Gestalt therapy, exploring the origins and formation of neuroses.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

Episode description:

In this episode we explore the concept of polarities, in particular health and illness as well as security and exploration with an attempt to reconcile between seemingly opposing human needs.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

Episode description:

This is part one of an introduction to Gestalt therapy, I am not sure yet how many episodes I will devote explicitly to the theory behind gestalt, but as it is an important part of my life, we will surely revisit it many times. As I am training in Gestalt therapy at the moment, this is a great opportunity for me to try and consolidate what I have learnt by presenting it here.

Sources reading:

• Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline.

• Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock.

• Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel.

Episode description:

In this episode we explore the similarities as well as the differences between the family unit and the State, drawing from child development research, and Gestalt therapy.

Source reading:

• The Drama of Being a Child by Alice Miller: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drama-Being-Child-Search-True/dp/1860491014

• Gestalt Therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Frederick Perls, Ralph. F Hefferline and Paul Goodman: https://www.amazon.com/Gestalt-Therapy-Excitement-Growth-Personality/dp/0939266245

• Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743487486/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_tkin_p1_i0

• How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk: https://www.orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1040990291?ProvID=10917736&gclid=CjwKCAjw14uVBhBEEiwAaufYx01bTAC-skyTuXk0B5iyQh-cueRjzJBV0lKjkN9siZFNdhG6x2orsRoCzD8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Episode description:

In this episode we explore what sets the State apart from other institutions in society.

Source reading:

• Anatomy of the State by Murray N. Rothbard: https://mises.org/library/anatomy-state

Episode description:

In this episode we explore historical examples as well as currant ones where law and order was and is provided with absence of State intervention.

Source reading:

• Samuel 1, 8:

• Property Rights in Celtic Irish Law by Joseph R. Peden:

[Property Rights in Celtic Irish Law | Mises Institute](https://mises.org/library/property-rights-celtic-irish-law-0)

• Private creation and enforcement of Law by David Friedman:

[Private Creation and Enforcement of Law: A Historical Case](http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Iceland/Iceland.html)

• An American experiment in Anarcho-Capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West

[American Experiment in Anarcho-Capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West | Mises Institute](https://mises.org/library/american-experiment-anarcho-capitalism-not-so-wild-wild-west)

• The obviousness of Anarchy by John Hasnas: [the-obviousness-of-anarchy](https://fiatjaf.com/the-obviousness-of-anarchy.pdf)

• Police, Law, and the Courts by Murray Rothbard: [12. The Public Sector, III: Police, Law, and the Courts | Mises Institute](https://mises.org/library/12-public-sector-iii-police-law-and-courts)

• The Production of Security by Gustave de Molinari: [Gustave de Molinari - The Production of Security](https://praxeology.net/GM-PS.htm)

• The Machinery of Freedom by David Friedman: [The_Machinery_of_Freedom_](http://www.daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf)

Episode description:

In this episode we take a look at how narratives and story telling shape our view of the world. How seeing people as being either good or bad is dangerously oversimplified, especially when we ignore the mechanisms that allow people to do so much harm even with the best of intentions. This episode touches on a few topics that have been discussed in episode 006, but I believe that they are worth revisiting.

Source reading:

• Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org) Out of Frame YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/c/FEEonline

• The Man Versus the State by Herbert Spencer: http://files.libertyfund.org/files/330/0020_Bk.pdf

• No Treason, the constitution of no authority by Lysander Spooner: https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/2194/Spooner_1485_Bk.pdf

Episode description:

In this episode we explore some seldom asked questions about the nature of political authority. Concentrating on Democracy and the will of the people, while attempting to learn from interpersonal relationships (the micro) and to apply our observations on society (the macro).

Source reading:

• The discovery of freedom by Rose Wilder Lane: https://archive.org/details/TheDiscoveryOfFreedom2/page/n1/mode/2up

• The Law by Frédéric Bastiat: https://www.sjsu.edu/people/john.estill/courses/158-s15/The%20Law%20-%20Bastiat.pdf

The body keeps the score by Bessel Van Der Kolk: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748

Episode description:

In this fifth episode we take a closer look at what happens when law becomes a political instrument.

This episode was inspired by the book The Law by Frédéric Bastiat: https://www.sjsu.edu/people/john.estill/courses/158-s15/The%20Law%20-%20Bastiat.pdf

Episode description:

In this fourth episode we take a closer look at what shackles we use to bind each other with, keeping in mind that whenever we attempt to control our fellow humans, we contribute to the same mechanisms that end up binding us as well.

Episode description:

In this third episode I offer a term clarification of the word freedom in a moral context. Observing the free individual, the slave and the tyrant, with a short look at Robinson Crusoe and Friday.

Influenced by:

Robert LeFevre - Commentaries

Episode description:

In this second episode of The Curious Case of Freedom we explore different contexts in which the concept of freedom may be relevant.

Episode description:

In this first episode of The Curious Case of Freedom we concentrate on a personal question; Why is freedom so important to me. And start our exploration of how we keep ourselves from being free. Considering both inner and outer shackles.